Warriors hit LeBron with brutal final burn

13th Jun 2018 3:13 PM

THE Warriors-Cavaliers insults get juicer by the championship.

As the two teams trade off NBA championships - with the Warriors winning their third title last week in four straight finals match-ups - the celebratory parade has become a goldmine of opportunities for the players to take shots at one another.

This year, Golden State took full advantage.

Draymond Green continued the T-shirt war with LeBron James, sporting a black shirt mocking a well-known Instagram meme that James had posted earlier in the season.

The infamous "Arthur" fist was given a makeover on Green's shirt to show three Warriors championship rings above the same caption that James used for his post: "mood."

The LeBron trolling didn't stop there.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office posted a photo from the parade of a police vehicle bearing an enlarged cutout of a sobbing James, smacked on the car's front grille as it made its way through downtown Oakland.

Burn.

In 2016, James started the friendly fire with an "ultimate warrior" T-shirt for Cleveland's celebratory parade.

And who could forget the spooky "3-1 lead" decorations at James' Halloween costume party in reference to the Cavs coming back from 3-1 down in the finals to win the 2016 title?

James' jabs clearly still resonate with the Warriors, as he found himself the central target for the parade.

Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in open, double-decker buses.

Stephen Curry, NBA finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to one million fans.

Party time.

Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as they moved along the route.

But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson used a megaphone to say hello, his greeting was drowned out by the cheering crowd.

Curry was able to connect in a different way when he opened a bottle of champagne, shook it and sprayed the crowd with it.

He briefly got off the bus and walked up to fans, throwing T-shirts, bracelets and other souvenirs to them and then holding the trophy up as dozens of cameras surrounded him.

Who needs a shirt when you’ve got an NBA championship?

Curry wore a large sun hat and under it a "RUN TMC" baseball cap in honour of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, the namesakes for the Don Nelson-coached Warriors teams during the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons.

"We never really imagined that we would be having one parade, let alone two and now three," Curry said during a short live interview before the parade started.

"But this is for you guys! We are going to try and get greedy and go get some more."

JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Jordan Bell posed for photographs and also mingled with fans, even hugging some of them, energising the pumped up crowd. Even coach Steve Kerr joined in on the fun and walked up to fans to sign autographs.

The Warriors were treated like gods.

"I'm just excited to be here with these guys" McGee, who was wearing only shorts, told KGO-TV. "Our fans are amazing! All the love that they show is just beautiful."

Young, also just in shorts during a very warm afternoon, ran up and down the street, giving fans high-fives.

The repeat champions went back-to-back, beating the Cavaliers 108-85 on Saturday to finish off a four-game clean sweep of the NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between the clubs.

Bell also had some fun at the Cavs' expense, using a broom to mock Cleveland about the clean sweep.